Steve Lowe 

The Old Grey Whistle Test, Complete Series 1-3

(BBC, four discs)
  
  


The Old Grey Whistle Test is rarely remembered with tearful affection. Neither pop nor avant garde, the BBC rock programme spent much of the 1970s and 80s catering to that driest of creatures: the serious music fan. Accordingly, this bumper collection of three previously released DVDs doesn't skimp on footage of middling singer-songwriters playing to studio technicians under horrible lighting. The 560 minutes - including new interviews with musicians and presenter - offer just enough hits of brilliance to forgive the wild inconsistency. Of the British folk contingent, the dark, intense clip of John Martyn and Danny Thompson suggests the genre's current revival was long overdue. The best performances - Roxy Music's Ladytron and the Jesus and Mary Chain's In a Hole - appear to be sending up their worthy surroundings with demented glee.

 

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